Playstation Faithful, Get Angry!

The recent announcement of the PS4 has kicked up quite a storm of news. And for the most part, all of this news has been positive. The hardware sound great, an impressive looking launch, filled with exclusive games, and a revamped, faster and more reliable PSN. This all sounds great right? Unfortunately the conference left viewers with the illusion of the "perfect console." Of course there's no such thing as the perfect console, but the few negative details that have been released are harsh detractors to my motivation of buy the system.

The biggest problem I see with the system is the lack of backwards compatibility. What I thought would be an easy issue to dismiss has become a multifaceted issue about economics as much as morality. When I talk about backwards compatibility I'm not talking about the PS4's inability to play PS3 discs, but the insane fact that none of your PSN games will carry over. That's right folks, every game you've bought on the PSN is gone once you trade your PS3 in for a PS4.

My knee jerk reaction was angry, then thoughtful, then back to angry. I tried to rationalize it in my mind, saying that it's no different than all the games I bought on disc, but upon further examination, it doesn't seem that way at all. The arguments in my mind for why I should be able to play my PSN games on the PS4 have both an economical and moral side to them. Lets start with the economics behind all this:

When buying games from a retailer, such as Gamestop or Walmart, you're privy to a range of prices. And whether you choose to buy the game new or used, you can always get some of your money back by reselling it. The PSN however gives you none of these options. So there's no chance that you can get any of your money back, it's gone.

The more emotional side of this coin is about the content, and what PSN users are doing for Sony. I would not consider the Unfinished Swan as a PS3 game, I think of it as a PSN game. When you look at games like Uncharted 3, those are pillars of what the PS3 is capable of. Those are the games that define the PS3, as well as differentiate the system from other platforms. But games like Journey could be on any number of other systems. The upcoming game The Witness (from Johnathan Blow) looks like it could be on the PS3. That game will not define the PS4. And all the HD collections and classic games will be more than a few generations old, and I'll still have to rebuy them.

But what's possibly most frustrating is that I've tried to support Sony, and its thrown my support back in my face. I made a conscious decision to buy games off of the PSN, that way the publishers, developers, and Sony are getting my money, not a retailer. I've bought PSN games and supported that struggling platform, and what do I get? Nothing. The best case scenario is a no net loss. If I had not bought any games off of the PSN I would have lost 0 dollars. That's the best case scenario, but it's also a lose lose situation.

That's why I'm asking you to tell everyone about this. If people have supported Sony, and they choose to punish them, they should get vocal. Start talking online, alert the masses of this, tell Sony that you won't stand for this. If Sony want faithful player, they have to treat them right.

So please start telling everyone. Don't you agree? How can we alert Sony that people won't stand for this?